We’re Georgia Bound

Today’s the day.

Sitting at 28,000 feet, looking back and forth between the sunrise over the landscape below and my other half sleeping on his stuff sack beside me. We’re really about to do this. The anticipation in my gut makes it feel like my backpack is about to turn into a parachute and, at any moment, an eager face is going to tell me that it’s my turn to jump out of this plane. Another adventure for another day, I suppose. Today, our destination is Springer Mountain.

I keep thinking back to the first conversation Conner and I had about the Appalachian Trail. Both of us beaming and sunburned after a long day of hiking around Austin’s Green Belt, stuck in I-35 traffic, and trying to keep the mood up by naming all the places we’d hope to go someday. That’s when he told me about a footpath that stretched from Georgia to Maine. I remember how unfathomable it seemed at the time, how happy I was to hear his stories of doing trail magic along the Blue Ridge Mountains, and how badly I wanted to see the entirety of it.

Now, Here We Are

The last few weeks have been spent hiking through bouts of Texas rain and mud, setting up our campaign with Charity: Water, putting our house on sleep mode, and sharing more goodbye hugs than we thought possible. The support that we’ve received from family and friends has been absolutely astounding from the start, and we couldn’t be more grateful to have such amazing people in our lives.

Our plane has started its descent, and it won’t be long until we’re meeting Conner’s dad at the airport, making our way to the trailhead, and saying our final farewells. After that, it’ll just be a matter of putting one foot in front of the other.

Until next time,
Kelsy and Conner